Marrero man charged with murder in January killing

A Marrero man involved in a grisly home-invasion slaying in 2002, and who copped a plea deal and testified against his cohorts, was indicted Thursday in an unrelated homicide.

Troy Arnaud

Troy Arnaud, 28, was charged by a Jefferson Parish grand jury with second-degree murder in the Jan. 29 death of Marvin Romero-Pineda. His alleged cohort, Gregory Ford Jr., 23, also of Marrero, was indicted as a principal to the murder, and he and Arnaud both were charged with obstruction of justice in the case.

Romero-Pineda, 36, of Marrero, was last seen by his family on Jan. 29, at a daiquiri shop on Barataria Boulevard. Witnesses told detectives they saw Romero-Pineda leaving the shop with Arnaud and Ford, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. Days later, detectives found Romero-Pineda's nude body in the 2000 block of South Kenner Road in Waggaman. He had been shot in the head, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The murder indictment is Arnaud's second. He was charged with second-degree murder in August 2002 in the June 9, 2002, death of Paul Fasullo, who died from stab wounds in his Marrero home during an attack by Arnaud's friends Kellen Parker and Dustin Dressner. Fasullo's wife also was stabbed, even as she held their infant child who was covered with so much blood that first responders initially thought the child was wounded as well. Arnaud claimed he was outside in the car and didn't know what was taking place inside.

However, prosecutors reduced the charge to accessory after the fact to second-degree murder Nov. 10, 2003, in exchange for his testimony against Parker and Dressner. Arnaud pleaded guilty in exchange for a five-year sentence, and on the following week, he testified against Parker, 28, of Marrero, who was convicted of first-degree murder. The jury could not reach a decision on whether Parker should get the death penalty, meaning he received a life sentence in prison.

View full sizeChris Granger, The Times-Picayune archiveJefferson Parish sheriff's deputies locate the body of Marvin Romero-Pineda in a wooded area in the 2000 block of South Kenner Street in Waggaman on Feb. 10.

Months later, Arnaud testified against Dressner, who also was convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to die by lethal injection and is on Death Row.

Ford has convictions for forgery and marijuana and is serving a two-year prison sentence after his probation for a second-offense marijuana conviction was revoked because of his arrest in Romero-Pineda's death and because he was consorting with Arnaud, a known felon, court records show.

Arnaud and Ford are in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in lieu of $950,000 bonds. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence in prison upon conviction.

Separately, the grand jury indicted Troy Greenup, 39, of Marrero, with the aggravated rape of a boy who was between the ages of 3 and 7 when the abuse allegedly occurred. The child, now 13, was forced to perform sexual acts, detectives testified at a court hearing in March. The boy disclosed the abuse to his family, who contacted authorities.

At the time police were notified, Greenup was out of jail on bond and awaiting trial on a charge of sexual battery involving a 4-year-old boy, for an incident allegedly happening in March 2009, records show. Greenup was acquainted with the boy's family. Greenup was re-arrested and is currently in jail in lieu of $750,000 bond. Aggravated rape carries a mandatory life sentence in prison upon conviction.